JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 1, 2012) – After returning home from a long weekend in Arizona, the ETSU (19-24) baseball returns to Thomas Stadium to play host to longtime rival and No. 28-ranked Appalachian State (32-9) on Wednesday night.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with live audio and live stats available at ETSUBucs.com for fans unable to attend the game.

Sophomore right-hander Jake Long (Anderson, S.C.) (2-6, 4.46 ERA) will make the start for the Bucs and will be opposed by Appalachian State righty Jamie Nunn (4-0, 1.50 ERA).

Sophomore Clinton Freeman (Jonesborough, Tenn.) continues to lead the Bucs at the plate with a .366 batting average to go along with six home runs and a team-high 42 RBI. Freeman hit .600 (9-for-15) against the Wildcats over the weekend with three hits in each game of the series and seven total RBI.

Meanwhile, Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Dylan Pratt (Johnson City, Tenn.) have hit a combined 32 home runs this season. Scruggs leads the nation with 17 homers, while Pratt ranks sixth in the country with 15. Pratt ranks second on the squad behind Freeman with a .321 batting average, while leading the team with a .648 slugging percentage.

The Bucs dropped all three games at No. 11 Arizona over the weekend. However, the Bucs did hit .333 for the series – the second highest batting average recorded this season for a three-game series. ETSU hit .347 in a three-game sweep over Saint Joseph’s during the second weekend of the season.

Appalachian State currently sits at 32-9 overall after most recently sweeping a weekend conference series over Wofford. The Mountaineers head into the contest with a seven-game winning streak and they are ranked No. 28 in the new NCBWA poll. ASU owns an impressive .315 team batting average on the year. ASU is one of only five teams in the nation with less than 10 losses on the season.

ASU is led at the plate by Daniel Kassouf as he leads the squad in batting average (.389), home runs (15), hits (65), slugging percentage (.754) and RBI (50).

The Mountaineers are the most frequent ETSU all-time opponent as the two schools have played 124 times through the years. Appalachian State owns a 71-53 advantage, but ETSU has won six of the last 10 meetings, including both games last season.

The Bucs and Mountaineers were scheduled to play in Boone earlier this year, but the two teams were only able to play two and a half innings before rain washed out the contest. ETSU was in front 2-0 before the rain moved into the area.

ETSU hits the road for a three-game conference series against Jacksonville beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

For more information on ETSU baseball, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the baseball link.